Dark Biohazard
by Mrtyrant
Summary: Leon Scott Kennedy moved to Raccoon city to be close to his girlfriend but decides to try joining S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) but unfortunately he didn't know what a big mistake that would turn out to be.
1. Prologue 1

DARK BIOHAZARD

 ** _Prologue: (1/3)_**

( _ **Raccoon City Police Station, Brian Iron's office. 1998)**_

It was a rather peaceful morning inside the Raccoon City Police Department when our story began. To be more specific, it began in the office of one Police Chief Brian Irons, who was currently in the middle of filling out some papers regarding a certain William Birkin when the voice of his secretary resounded from his answering phone.

"Chief Irons?"

"Yeah, what is it?" The police chief asked with no small amount of irritation at being interrupted.

"The new recruit for the STARS Alpha team is here for his interview. Should I send him up?" The secretary asked, causing the portly man to remember that the rookie's final interview was today.

"Right. Go on ahead and send him up." Irons confirmed before leaning back into his chair and beginning to wait. After a few moments of waiting, Irons heard several sharp raps on his door.

"It's open. Come on in." The police chief confirmed, causing the door to open as the potential recruit for STARS walked inside. He was a young man, possibly around the age of the last recruit, Chambers, if a bit younger. He had ash blond hair that was parted and was wearing the winter variant of the RPD's uniform. The same kind Kevin Ryman wore, albeit with a long sleeve shirt underneath. "So, you're the new STARS recruit. Kennedy, right?"

"Ah... yes sir, that's me." The young man answered, trying not to let his anxiety show as he spoke.

"Right right, have a seat... and stop walking like you got a stick jammed up your ass, will ya!?" The chief ordered harshly as he sorted through his desk to find the rookie's papers. Wasting no time, Leon did so and remained silent as Irons fished out his papers.

"Alright, lessee here. Full name: Leon Scott Kennedy. Born on 28/8/1980. Says here that you graduated from college at the age of 17 and were at the top of your classes in the academy. Overall, not a bad resume for someone of your age. I'm guessing that everything on these papers is true?" Iron asked after reading off Leon's information, looking at the young man questioningly.

"Yes sir. Last time I checked, everything on those papers is true." Leon answered simply.

"Hmm... well with all this in order, and considering you passed the physical and mental evaluations, seems like there should be no problem putting you in our special forces." Irons confirmed before pressing a button on his phone. "Get Branagh in here and tell him to double-time it!"

And with that exclamation, the two merely waited for officer Branagh to arrive, leaving an increasingly uncomfortable Leon alone with the curt, portly man in his office. Despite his increasing discomfort, the young rookie still felt taken aback by the apparent conformation that he was now in STARS. Was it all really that simple?

"So uh... I'm in STARS now?" Leon couldn't help but ask, surprise clear in his voice.

"Isn't that what I just said?"Irons asked rhetorically, looking annoyed as he stared at his guest.

No no! I understand that and all, I'm just a bit surprised at how uh... I guess unceremonious it all was..." Leon corrected quickly, unable to look Irons in the eye.

"What the hell were you expecting, kid? A parade in your honor? You passed all the requirements and got in. Congratulations." Was all the police chief had to say in response, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

'Sheesh. And he's saying I got a stick jammed up my ass?' Was all Leon could think of in response, mildly peeved by his boss's jerky attitude. Thankfully, this conversation got cut short when Marvin Branagh let himself into the office. Marvin definitely had an appearance that fit the role of model cop. He was an African American man currently wearing the RPD's summer uniform (which was what most of the station's officers were wearing at the time. Leon and one other officer were the rare exception to this.) and had a black buzz-cut that complimented the light beard around his face.

"You called for me, chief?"

"I did. Take Mr. Kennedy to the STARS office so he can get properly acquainted with his new role here." Irons explained, gesturing towards Leon before returning to his paperwork.

"Got it." Marvin nodded before gesturing for Leon to get up. "Come on."

Eager to get out of the chief's office for a variety of reasons, Leon quickly followed Marvin out the door and into the RPD's busy halls. The young rookie always did like Marvin. He was an affable and reasonable boss to have who did a good job showing Leon the ropes of the RPD, so he certainly he no complaints about the senior officer being his escort.

"So, you managed to make it into STARS, huh? Not bad, rookie." Marvin congratulated with a joking tone, giving Leon a friendly pat on the back as they walked. "Just try to avoid flaunting your new job to Kevin, will you? He might get jealous if he finds out you got in before he did."

"Thanks for the congrats, sir, and I'll definitely keep that in mind." Leon nodded. As they continued on their way, questions about his new job began to make their way to the forefront of his mind. "So, anything I need to know while I'll be working in STARS?"

"You're probably gonna have to ask the other members yourself, I only really know what everyone else does, about them being our answer to SWAT and Raccoon's special rescue team." Marvin explained. "I can tell you who you'll be working with though."

And with that offer, Marvin listed off all current members of STARS that Leon would be working with. There was Albert Wesker, Enrico Marini, Paula Morton, Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers, Forest Speyer, Joseph Frost, Kenneth J. Sullivan, Richard Aiken, Edward Dewey, and Brad Vickers. Marvin then went on to explain what exactly each member's role in STARS was up until they stood outside the door into the special forces unit's office.

"Alright we're here. Good luck in there, kid."

"Got it. Thank you again for your help, sir."

"Don't mention it. Anyway, I'll see you around the office, Leon." And with that goodbye, the senior officer walked away to continue with his duties, leaving Leon alone in the hallway. After taking a brief moment to compose himself, the young man took a deep breath before walking inside the office. As he stepped inside, he was greeted with a fairly wide rectangular room that had several . There was a communications terminal to the right and to his left was a desk that had a large STARS banner behind it. It was presumably where the captain conducted his business. It was during this brief look around the room that Leon noticed a young, brown haired woman who looked to be a bit older than him sitting at the desk furthest to his right, clearly absorbed in her work.

"Ah... scuse me, miss?" Leon began, walking towards the girl and getting her attention. "I'm Leon Kennedy. I'm uh... I'm the uhm..."

"Our newest member. Don't worry, I heard all about you coming in today. I'm Rebecca Chambers." the girl greeted with a friendly smile, getting up from her desk and holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Right. That." Leon confirmed as they shook hands, having difficulty looking Rebecca in the eye due to his nervousness. "Sorry if I'm coming off as pretty skittish. I'm just feeling pretty nervous about all this."

"First day chills, right?" Rebecca correctly assumed, a knowing expression on her face. "Like I said, don't worry about it, I was the exact same way my first couple of days with STARS too."

"Heh, nice to know we're on the same boat then." Leon smiled slightly before he began to look around the room, noticing how barren it all was. "So uh... where are the rest of the STARS members? Are they out on a mission?"

"Yeah, both Alpha and Bravo team were sent out on missions today. I was told to remain behind so I could welcome you and provide you with your equipment." With that said, Rebecca walked towards a locker that was situated right next to the communications station and pulled out a folded uniform consisting of black pants, boots, a white undershirt with the STARS logo on it's shoulder, and a grey flak vest that had the STARS initials printed on the back. This was all topped off by a Beretta resting atop of pile of folded clothes.

"Here you go. The standard issue uniform and Beretta. If you ask captain Wesker or Marini, you can get it in a color you prefer." Rebecca explained. Leon considered possibly getting the best in a different color, but decided against it. He had nothing against grey. "So do you know what your designation on Alpha team's going to be?"

"Last time I checked, the position I applied for was sharp shooter and pointman." Leon answered, causing Rebecca to nod.

"Okay, good to know. Anyway, I'm sorry about cutting this short, but I actually have some important work I need to go take care of. If you have any questions later, feel free to ask me! Your first official day with us is going to be tomorrow, so for now, just unload all your stuff at a vacant desk."

"Got it." Leon nodded, smiling slightly at the friendly and plucky girl. "It was nice meeting you, and I'll be looking forward to working with you, Ms. Chambers."

"Likewise." Rebecca smiled back before her expression became a touch more playful. "That being said, Rebecca's just fine. If we're gonna be working together, I don't wanna start hearing you constantly calling me 'Ms. Chambers."

"Say no more." Leon affirmed with a motion of his hand. With nothing more to be said, Rebecca left the office to carry out her business, leaving Leon alone to unpack all his stuff at the new desk. Soon after, the newly made member of STARS holstered his Beretta into his old police uniform, took his new one, and finally took his leave.

* * *

"Leon!"

As Leon walks out of the front gates of the police station, he's greeted with a pleasant surprise in the form of a familiar fair-haired girl leaning against her parked motorcycle, waving towards him with an easy-going smile on her pretty face.

"Elza?" Leon began, sounding confused as he walked towards the motorcycle enthusiast. "What are you doing here?"

"What? Is it really so strange that I wanted to see how my boyfriend was doing after his first day in STARS?" The blonde girl explained with a care-free tone as she stopped leaning against her motorcycle and walked towards Leon.

"You sound awfully certain that I even got in." Leon noted, brow raised slightly.

"Oh? So you're saying you didn't?" Was Elza's reply, her smile and gaze rather smug. Leon was about to open his mouth to retort only to realize he had no comeback. Upon realizing this, the blond young man found himself unable to look the motorcyclist in the eye, only furthering her smug satisfaction.

"Well uh... yeah, you're right on the money." Was the rookie STARS member's feeble comeback. Elza merely smiled in triumph before looking at him with clear curiosity.

"Sooo? Come on, how did your first day with STARS go?" She continued to prod, curious as to what Raccoon City's special forces unit was like.

"It was really nothing out of the ordinary. They just showed me the new office and set me up with a new uniform and gun." Leon explained, holding up the uniform for her to see before gesturing towards the Beretta in his leg holster.

"Cool! Can you show me?" Was Elza's eager response, causing Leon to give her a deadpan look.

"Elza, I can't just start waving my gun around for you to see not even a day after I got accepted into STARS."

"I was talking about your uniform, you dumbass." Elza clarified dryly, but not without a playful smile clear on her face.

"Oh. That, I can do." Leon said, looking rather sheepish in wake of Elza's clarification. "But uh... preferably not out in the middle of the street."

In response to this, Elza merely walked back towards her motorcycle and started the ignition before looking back towards Leon. "Tell you what. You can show me how you look in it over at my dorm room back on campus."

"Really now? And that's all you want to do over at your place?" Leon chuckled as he crossed his arms, knowing damn well that seeing him in his new uniform wasn't all the energetic girl had in mind for him. "Very subtle, Elza."

"About as subtle as I'm ever willing to get~." The motorcyclist responded in a sing-song tone before tossing her helmet over to Leon. "Anyway, hop on!"

Leon could only mutely chuckle at his girlfriend's behavior before sliding the helmet onto his head and taking a seat behind her. "Lead the way."

And with that, the two began their drive to Raccoon University.


	2. Prologue 2

_**A/N: Special thanks to lolrus555 for turning my poorly written mess into something readable.**_

 _ **(Prologue: (⅔)**_

 _ **(Raccoon City University, Elza Walker's dorm room. 1998)**_

Upon returning to Elza's dorm at Raccoon University, the blonde biker found herself sitting on her bed as Leon got changed into his STARS uniform in her bathroom. Her curiosity already gnawing at her, Elza leaned up in her seat as she stared intently at the door leading into her bathroom, as though if she stared hard enough, she'd be able to see through it and within.

"Speed it up in there, I wanna see!" Elza called out, an eager tone in her voice.

"Alright alright. Just needed a sec. Uniforms like these take a bit to put on the first time." Came Leon's muffled voice before the door opened a moment after, showing the young cop in his new STARS uniform.

"So? Not a bad look for me, huh?" Leon asked with a pleased grin, holding out his arms so Elza could take his whole form in.

"I'll say! You looked like you walked right out of an old action flick!" Elza laughed. "All you need to do now is get yourself a crew cut and double down at the gym and you'll fit the bill perfectly~!"

"Heh, I'll see what I can do about getting some muscle on me, but I'm not letting anyone get within five feet of me with a pair of scissors. I actually happen to really like this haircut, thank you very much." Leon joked, crossing his arms as he looked at his girlfriend.

"Fine, you're the boss, _pretty boy_." Elza noted dryly, though not without an amused grin on her face. Of course, as she took in the uniform, a curious thought made it's way into her head. "So, how exactly _do_ you get into STARS, anyway? I'm guessing not just anyone can walk on in and ask to be a member."

"You just gotta take and pass a series of tests and evaluations. There are written tests, fitness courses, the usual kind of stuff that you'd see at the police academy." Leon explained as he recalled the various tests he took leading up to his acceptance.

"And that's it?" Elza asked.

"Well, that and they make sure to look over your past career to check for any red spots… which, is probably the deciding reason why I got in, now that I think of it." Leon explained after a moment's thought, thoughts drifting to his fellow RPD officer and the only other person to apply for a spot in STARS.

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"Well, I'm not the only officer that wanted to get into STARS at the moment. There was another guy over in my precinct name Kevin who applied with me. He apparently did just fine on the tests, but he has a bit of a rep over at the station. From what I've heard, he's a bit too care free and willing to bend some rules to get the job done." Leon explained, not sure what to think, having never really met the man personally yet.

Upon hearing his name, however, Elza's expression lit up slightly in recognition. "Kevin? You mean Kevin Ryman?"

"Uh, yeah. That's him. How'd you know that?" Leon asked, giving his girlfriend a questioning gaze.

"Because he's a regular over at Jack's. I'm actually kinda surprised you never met him personally, considering how often you have dinner over there." Elza explained, referring to the popular and comfortable bar situated in the city that the two of them and many others frequented.

" _...Really?_ Huh… never would've…" Leon trailed off before his eyes lit up in realization. "Oh. Wait. I know who you're talking about now. You mean the guy who hits on Cindy every night I'm there."

"The very same." Elza laughed lightly, before continuing with a joking tone in her voice. "Too bad the only cop she has a crush on is you."

"Still looking for a scandal where it doesn't exist, Elza?" Leon groaned, annoyed at this particular topic being brought up again.

"Oh what? So you're telling me she keeps a photo of you in her locker because she values your constant patronage?" Elza asked dryly, dutifully ignoring the look of shock on Leon's face when she brought up the blonde waitress apparently keeping a photo of him.

"...I see. Well first off, I guess that's kind of flattering when you don't think about it too hard, and secondly, how the hell do you even know about this?" Was all he could think to ask, an incredulous look on his face.

"Well, you know how we went there a few weeks back to celebrate that race I won? I asked if there was somewhere I could go to change out of my racing suit, and they let me use their locker room. While I was in there, I noticed that her locker gaping open, and you wouldn't believe whose photo I saw inside with a heart on it." The motorcyclist explained, her tone playful as she lied back in her bed. "Guess she forgot to lock things up before her shift began."

"Hmph… really now? So what? Are you telling me this because you're jealous?" Leon prodded, a teasing tone in his voice. Reacting to his teasing almost immediately, Elza shot up into a sitting position from her bed and looked at her boyfriend with a defensive expression.

" _Jealous?_ Are you kidding me? Do you honestly think that-" Was all she could get out before Leon suddenly closed the distance between the two of them and pressed his lips into hers. Any and all complaints Elza had immediately left her mind as she laid back down on the bed with Leon on top of her.

" _You freaking perv~."_ Was the only other thing the blonde girl had to say when Leon pulled away, a broad smile clear on her lips.

 *****O*****

After enjoying a _very_ pleasant night with Elza, Leon soon departed during the early morning the next day for his first official day working in STARS. Donning his new uniform, he was on his way to the office when he noticed a familiar face in the stairway to the 2nd floor.

"Oh, Leon! Good to see you again!" Rebecca greeted perkily, approaching her new colleague.

"Hey Rebecca. Same here." Leon greeted, smiling slightly. "I was actually just about to head up to the office. Anything I should know in advance?"

"Yeah, actually. Captain Wesker told me that if I ran into you, I should tell you to head up to the office straight away. You might already know this, but he's the captain of the Alpha team, meaning he's your CO." Rebecca explained, Leon nodding as she spoke. "Odds are there's something that he wants to go discuss with you."

"Huh. Okay, thanks for letting me know." The blond officer confirmed, the two of them exchanging goodbyes as Leon continued up the stairway and made his way to the outside of the office.

"Hello?" Leon called out, tentatively creaking the door open after knocking on it.

" _There's no need to hesitate, young man. Please, come in."_ A smooth, collected voice with a clear British accent called out to Leon, causing him to jump slightly before looking towards the source of the voice.

By doing so, Leon was greeted with the site of a figure sitting in the captain's desk. He was a man clad in a black and blue variant of the standard STARS uniform that had several supply pouches attached to the vest along with a holder for a walkie-talkie on the left breast. As for facial features, the man had a strong jawline and a rather pale complexion that was topped off by his slicked back blond hair and a set of black sunglasses resting in front of his eyes. The sunglasses were admittedly rather peculiar, considering they were indoors, but Leon couldn't deny that he made the look work.

"Mr. Kennedy, I presume?" The bespectled man asked, causing Leon to nod in response. "A pleasure to meet you in person. I am Albert Wesker, the captain of the STARS alpha team and your commanding officer during your time with us. Please, have a seat, would you?"

"Thank you for the kind words, sir. I… definitely hope I can live up to your expectations while working under you." Leon said politely as he took a seat, trying to ignore the weight of anxiety that just settled in his gut. Just like yesterday with chief Irons, the blond rookie couldn't help but feel something unpleasant and nerve wracking well up within him as the cool and composed captain appeared to size him up and down. After another moment of uncomfortable silence, Wesker spoke once more, his sunglasses making it very difficult to tell what he was thinking.

"Now then Leon- you don't mind if I call you Leon, do you?" Despite the unnerving feeling Wesker was giving Leon, he was unwilling to get on his new boss's bad side on his first official days with STARS and merely nodded. "Good. Now then, to get right to the point, I have an assignment that I'd like you to accomplish before you start accompanying the rest of Alpha team on their field missions. It's a little task I've decided upon to see if you're really cut out for STARS, so to say."

"Uh… is that really necessary, Captain Wesker? I mean, I already passed all the tests and evaluations." Leon couldn't help but ask, brow raising slightly.

"Yes yes, I'm well aware that you passed the criteria to get into STARS with flying colors, but the lack of field experience you have, especially when compared to the rest of our special forces, leaves me rather concerned. Just try to think of this assignment as me 'testing the waters' before your first on-field assignment with us." Wesker waved off in a tone that booked no arguments.

"Huh… okay. So… what am I gonna be doing?" In response to this inquiry, Wesker merely pulled out a vanilla colored file before sliding it across his desk for Leon to take.

"In that file is the address of one private detective Ark Thompson." Wesker explained as Leon opened up the file and began to look through it's contents. "Despite working independently from the police, he's assisted the RPD on multiple cases in the past and has requested our assistance with his latest case. I want you to assist him in his investigation."

"I see… so what exactly is this guy looking into, anyway?" Leon asked as he scanned through the various photos and papers within the file. All of them seemed to pertain to one lieutenant Billy Coen and the grizzly rap sheet he acquired. As he looked through the man's mugshot, he felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the photos of several military police officers's rotting corpses. _'Jesus… the corpses in this picture look like they were torn apart…!'_

"Judging by the look on your face, I take it you've already acquainted yourself with the subject of this investigation. We have reason to believe that the man in this file is at large within the city, which is where you come in, Leon. You are to work with detective Thompson in tracking him down and apprehending him."

Now _that_ was a bombshell if the green young man had ever heard one. For a brief moment, Leon could only stare at the deadpan Wesker in clear shock at what he was telling him to accomplish. _'He wants me to track down a guy that tore these MP officers apart with his bare hands!?'_

After realizing that he couldn't just sit there speechless, Leon once again swallowed his budding anxiety and looked towards Wesker with what he was hoping was a calm, questioning gaze. "U-Uh… Sir, are you _sure_ this is a good choice for my first assignment? This man, uh… Lieutenant Coen, doesn't sound like someone that should be taken lightly, given what he's done. Shouldn't a more experienced officer, or even a veteran member of STARS, be assisting detective Thompson with this?"

"Come now, Leon, you shouldn't sell yourself so short. You _are_ now a member of Raccoon City's finest, after all. After seeing how you did on the evaluations, I have no doubt that you'll play a key role in helping detective Thompson apprehend Coen." Wesker once again waved off, his tone conveying nothing but clear, calm, confidence. It would've honestly been inspiring for the young rookie if it wasn't for the fact that it somewhat contradicted his previous words.

' _Didn't you essentially give me this assignment_ because _you doubted my test results?'_ Was what Leon wanted to say, but for the sake of keeping his job, kept his mouth shut.

"In any case, there's no time for you to play around here. I want you to head over to the good detective's office and do what you can to assist him in this case. Understood?"

"Got it, sir." Despite Leon's overall apprehension towards his involvement with such a dangerous case, he made sure it didn't show until he was outside the STARS office and out of the sight of his CO. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, he leaned back against the wall as he reflected the previous conversation.

' _Christ… first assignment with this group and I'm already tracking down a convicted killer and fugitive.'_ Leon mentally groaned, his sarcasm helping ease his anxiety, if only by a little. _'Talk about a trial by fire.'_


	3. Prologue 3

_**Prologue (3/3)**_

As per Wesker's instructions, Leon wasted no time in making his way over to Ark Thompson's apartment, although as it turned out, this task was proving to be more difficult than originally anticipated. He initially was hoping he could find the location via some directions he got and from what he could see from some tourist attraction boards, but it seemed as though he got turned around somewhere down the line.

"Well isn't this perfect. First assignment and I can't even find the street I'm supposed to go…" Leon muttered to himself, clearly annoyed with himself as he leaned back against the wall of a building.

"Oh, Leon! Hey there! What brings you here so early in the day?" However, before Leon could even think about where to start if he was going to get back on the right track, he was brought back to reality when a familiar and perky female voice addressed him. Perking up, the ash blond turned to address the voice and was surprised to see Cindy Lennox, a waitress from Jack's bar, looking at him with a friendly smile, her hands behind her back.

"U-Uh… Cindy! Hey there." Leon greeted with a crooked smile on his face. Quite frankly, in wake of what Elza told him the night before, he wasn't quite sure on how he should approach the perky waitress.

"It's pretty early in the day for you to be stopping by here. What's the occasion?" The young waitress asked curiously. Momentarily confused, Leon was about to ask what she meant by that when he realized that his blind wandering through the city brought him to the front of the bar he frequented

"I'm actually here on RPD business, in case the uniform wasn't already telling of that." Leon explained offhandedly, gesturing towards his uniform as he said this. However, after another brief moment's thought, the young officer looked towards his fellow blonde curiously, pulling out his notebook that had detective Thompson's address written down on it. "Actually, you wouldn't happen to know where this address is, would you?"

Upon taking a moment to examine the name of the address, Cindy's eyes lit up in recognition. "That building? Yeah, of course! It's actually right around the corner!" She explained, pointing straight down the road. "It's that apartment building right there at the end of the street."

' _To think it was so close. I really gotta work on my sense of direction…'_ Leon groaned mentally, resisting the urge to slap his palm into his face. His shift in mood certainly didn't go unnoticed by the young waitress, who merely looked at him with restrained amusement.

"I take it you passed by here a few times already without even realizing it?" Cindy asked coyly, an amused grin on her face.

"...Yeah. And let's just leave it at that." Leon answered after a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose before giving the waitress an affirmative wave. "Anyway, I gotta get going. Thanks for your help, Cindy."

"Of course, Leon! I hope you'll stop by the bar again soon." Cindy nodded, her tone both enthusiastic and hopeful, which, given Leon's newfound knowledge of her crush on him, was a bit awkward to hear.

"Y-Yeah, of course. Odds are I'm probably gonna stop by sometime soon. Probably not today, though. Kind of got a full schedule." And he meant it too. Jack's was easily one of Leon's favorite places to spend his nights at in Raccoon, thanks in no small part to it's pleasant atmosphere, quality drinks, and the fact that Will sure as hell knew how to fry a nice, juicy, cheeseburger.

Once the two finished exchanging goodbyes, Leon wasted no time in making his way into the apartment building's main hall. However, just as he was about to start looking for Thompson's room number, he accidentally bumped into someone while looking at one of the files Wesker gave him.

"Ah, sorry about that." Leon apologized, looking up to address who he bumped into. As it turned out, it was a rather well-built man of seeming hispanic descent with a rugged, handsome face and black hair tied up in a tight pony-tail. He was currently wearing a rolled up, light brown jumpsuit complete with a toolbelt attached to his upper thigh, indicating a profession as a mechanic or plumber. In response to Leon's apology, the plumber merely gave a raise of his hand before walking off without a word, indicating no ill will.

' _Huh… now that I think of it, I think I've seen that guy over at Jack's a few times before.'_ Leon noted as he watched the man walk out the apartment building's front doors. His gaze lingered there for another moment before shrugging and looking back towards his file. _'Small world, I guess. Alright then… according to this, I'm looking for a room 302…'_

And with that, Leon continued through the halls of the apartment building till he eventually found himself standing at the front door of detective Thompson's apartment. He was about to knock on the door to see if anyone was home when he began to hear a series of muffled voices on the other side.

" _...ncent, you're being stupid about all this! Now can we please just talk about this at a later time? I'm expecting someone from the RPD to drop by at any minute!"_ One voice spoke out, his voice clearly masculine and sounding rather frustrated with whoever they were talking to. An instinctive curiosity taking over, Leon took a quick look around the hall to make sure no one else was present before placing his ear up against the door to better hear the voices.

" _So that's what you think I'm being?_ Stupid!? _So happy to finally hear what you really think!"_ Another voice, sounding rather imperious in nature, shot back, venom all too clear in it's tone. _"Forget this! I'm not going to stand here and be insulted by you any longer!"_

' _Oh shit!'_ Leon cursed inwardly, hastily backing away as he heard the sound of footsteps approach the door. A second after this, the door opened up, revealing the owners of the two voices. One was a man that appeared to be close to Leon's age with short brown hair and was wearing a dark green military jacket with a furred hood. The other was a man with slicked back blond hair and had a rather cold and imperious look to him. For a moment, Leon felt like a deer in headlights as both men looked briefly surprised by his presence before looking right at him.

"And just who might you be?" The blond man began, his gazing boring into him with clear suspicion while the brown-haired man just looked at him questioningly.

"Uh… Leon Kennedy. R.P.D. and S.T.A.R.S." Leon began, showing the two his badge. "Would either of you happen to be detective Ark Thompson? I was told that this was his apartment and I need to speak with him as soon as I can."

"Yeah, that'd be me, officer." The brown haired man, now revealed to be Ark, sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, Vincent, can we _please_ just talk about this later? This was a really bad time."

"As far as I'm concerned, we're _done_ talking, Thompson. Goodbye." And before Ark could even attempt to get a word in, the blond man, Vincent, as he was called, walked off, leaving the two alone in the hall.

"God _fucking_ dammit…" Ark hissed in frustration, leaning against the wall as he rubbed his hand against his forehead, seemingly to soothe an oncoming migraine.

"I uh… sorry if I dropped by at a bad time for you and your friend." Was all Leon could think to say in an attempt to fill in the awkward silence that had settled. Rubbing the back of his head, he was unsure of what else to say to help alleviate the situation. Honestly, what are you _supposed_ to do in a situation like this?

"No, no, you're fine. Sorry you had to see that." Ark sighed, bringing his hand off his face in a wiping motion before looking towards Leon. The PI's exhausted expression and overall dishevelled look gave off the indication that he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep for quite some time. "Anyway, come on in."

As Leon stepped into the apartment, he took a brief look over the detective's living situation. It was a fairly modest living situation that had all the essential luxuries one would expect while living in an apartment, and on the other side of the main living area, there was an office desk set up that had various photos and files scattered all over it.

"Just take a seat there." Ark offered, gesturing towards a chair facing the desk before slumping into a large and comfortable looking computer chair. "Now then, Officer Kennedy, have you been informed of the details of my current investigation before arriving?"

"Uh, yes sir. For the most part. I'm aware that you're currently trying to track down former military lieutenant and fugitive Billy Coen. I'm also privy to his 'handiwork' with those MPs that were escorting him for execution." Leon explained, placing the folder Wesker gave him on the detective's desk.

"Well then you've got the bare essentials down, at least." Ark nodded, opening up the folder and expecting one of the files within, a dead-serious look on his face. "Lieutenant Coen. Convicted for 23 counts of first-degree murder while serving with the marines. He was en route to the Regathon base, scheduled for execution there, when something caused the van he was being transported in to crash in the middle of the Arklay Forest."

As he recapped the details of this case, he held up the pictures showcasing the mauled bodies of the MP officers for Leon to see. "By the time the authorities found the car wreckage, Coen was nowhere to be found and the MP officers transporting him were… well, you said yourself that you've seen his handiwork."

"A few days after this wreckage was discovered, a marine commander by the name of Samuel Regan hired me to track Coen down. He seems to believe that Coen made his way into Raccoon City and is hiding away somewhere." Ark finished, looking at Leon as he took in the information he received.

"So that's the overall situation, huh?" Leon mused. He remained silent for a moment before looking at Ark with clear apprehension. "Detective Thompson, are you sure that we should be the only ones handling this investigation? Everything I've learned about Coen so far makes it pretty damn clear that he's cut from a different cloth from your usual brand of psycho. Honestly, if everything in his rap sheet is accurate, then the entire RPD should be made aware of this and trying to track him down."

Ark could only pinch the bridge of his nose before looking down at the various files on his desk in response. When he spoke up, his tone was sardonic. "Believe me Kennedy, I'm on the same page as you, but Regan made it very clear to me that he didn't want word on Coen's escape and his 'at large' status in the city to get out. The higher ups over at the RPD know about the situation as well, but they seem to be on the same page as Regan, considering they've only allowed one officer, you, to support me on this."

' _Dammit… I'm not liking the look of this at all. What the hell is that Regan guy even thinking too…!? If Coen's even a fraction as dangerous as I've been told, the entire RPD should be on the look out for him...'_ Were Leon's apprehensive thoughts on the matter. Everything about this assignment, especially his involvement with it, just wasn't sitting right with him. He definitely wants to help, but he took no shame in admitting that he was still green as far as being a police officer went. Was he really qualified to assist Thompson in apprehending Coen?

Ark seemed to have noticed Leon's persistent apprehension, judging by what he had to say next. "Look, Leon, I understand entirely why you're apprehensive about this, but I _really_ do need some support on this case. I got some leads to follow up on where Coen might be hiding, but they're all pretty flimsy, and I don't feel secure in following up on them by myself. I get that you're reluctant, and I sure as hell don't blame you, but please, just take a moment to really think this over. If you really don't think you can handle this, then fair enough. I'll see if I can't contact the RPD and get another officer to help me, but please, just think it over for a minute."

Upon hearing all this, Leon couldn't help but wince. As apprehensive as he was about all this, Ark's words helped hammer home just how important it was that this case get resolved. After another moment's thought, the blond officer finally sighed in surrender. "...Alright, okay, I understand. When you word it all like that, I'd feel like scum if I refused. I'm in."

"Perfect! Thank you, Leon!" Ark sighed in relief, slumping into his chair slightly before handing Leon a slip of paper with an address on it. "Meet me at this address at 1:00 PM tomorrow. And don't forget to bring a gun either. You might need it."

"Got it. I'll meet you there." Leon confirmed. Taking the folder back before taking his leave. As he took a step outside the apartment building, the rookie couldn't help but let out a groan, running a hand through his hair, before beginning his treck to Raccoon University.

 *****O*****

"So, your first assignment has you playing detective?" Elza asked, lying stomach down on her bed as she listened to Leon recap the bare essentials of his first assignment. Currently, the man in question was doing some sit-ups on the edge of Elza's bed. He removed his vest not long after he arrived, leaving him in his uniform's undershirt. "Not sure if the trench coat and fedora would really work for you. Still on the fence about whether a spic and span waist coat would work though."

"Heh, thanks for the info. I'll make sure to keep that in mind if I ever have to choose between those two costumes." Leon chuckled, the blonde racer's humor helping take his mind off the case. Due to the grizzly nature of his investigation regarding Coen, Leon opted to avoid giving Elza the truth about it so she wouldn't worry, instead telling her that she was looking into a robbery that recently took place.

As their conversation continued, Elza suddenly looked a bit more reluctant to speak, indicating that whatever was on her mind had been bugging her. "So uh… I've heard that there's gonna be a bike race some time next month…"

"Really? You plan on competing in it?" Leon asked curiously, getting into a sitting position on the floor as he stopped with his exercise.

"Eh… I'm not really sure, to be honest. It's kind of been a while since I've competed in a motorcycle race…" Elza answered, her tone reluctant.

"Well hey, if you're worried that you've gotten rusty, you said it yourself, it's a month away. I can definitely see you leaving everyone else in the dust if you get some practice in and get back into the swing of things." Leon suggested.

"Maybe…" Elza murmured before looking towards Leon with clear curiosity. "Honestly, I'm kind of surprised you're so for this, considering you were the first to push for me dropping racing and going to college."

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you had something to fall back on if bike racing didn't work out. I never said to drop racing entirely. You're the best racer I know, but sometimes shit happens that's out of our control. If something like that happened and you couldn't race anymore, then at least now, you got a degree to fall back on." Leon said, putting up a hand in a gesture of defense.

"Leon, I'm the _only_ racer you know." Was Elza's sarcastic reply.

"Doesn't take away from my point." Leon shot back. "And that point is, if you still wanna race, then you shouldn't let being in college now stop you."

Upon hearing all this, Elza couldn't help but get up from her bed and straddle the still-sitting Leon before wrapping him in a tight hug, finishing off with a deep kiss.

"I freaking love you~." The blonde biker cooed, arms wrapped tight around him.

"Yeah, I know." Leon smiled, burying his head into the crook of Elza's shoulder.

"Just had to go for the cliched movie line, didn't you?" Elza noted dryly, her affectionate smile never leaving her face.

( _ **A/N: Special thanks to lolrus555 for turning my poorly written mess into something readable.)**_


	4. Chapter 1

**_Chapter_** **1: Novice (1/3)**

 **Elza's Room. 8:12 AM**

Rousing from her slumber, Elza wasn't surprised to see that Leon had already left for his job. After stretching and rolling her neck with a few satisfying _***POPS,***_ the motorcycle enthusiast decided that she may as well organize Leon's belongings before she left for class. With how frequently the young man came by here, it was a common occurrence for him to leave his stuff in her dorm room.

' _?'_ As she tidied things up, the blonde noticed something curious poking out of Leon's backpack. Her curiosity getting the better of her,

The photo shows a man and a woman,The men was the same height and body type as leon, but he was muscular and had a Tan, His hair was brown with a military haircut, He had brown eyes and his face was unremarkable and average, but he really gives a tough guy vibe, The women on the other hand was very beautiful with a fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Turning the photo around, Elza noticed the words 'mom and dad' scrawled onto the back.

' _Huh… these must be Leon's parents.'_ Elza noted, looking the picture of Leon's folks over before another thought came to mind. _'Hmm… now that I think of it, I don't think Leon's ever brought up his parents in all the time I've known him. That's…. Strange.'_ Elza couldn't help but note, her gaze lingering on the photo for another moment before placing it back where she found it.

' _Well, as curious as I am, I shouldn't bring it up thoughtlessly. If Leon hasn't brought his parents up, I can only assume there must be some personal reason behind it.'_

.

.

.

 _ **S.T.A.R.S. Office 11:40 AM**_

' _I can only wonder where this guy's hiding.'_ Leon mused as he sat at his desk, once again looking over the file Ark gave him about Billy. He could only hope that this case would be resolved sooner rather than later. The sooner he put this behind him and Coen behind bars, the sooner he'd feel at ease.

"Hey Rookie! Over here!" However, Leon was soon dragged out of his musings when he heard someone calling out for him. Blinking, the blond looked up and noticed a rather gruff looking man in a red flak vest beckoning for him to come over.

"Ah, yes sir. You need something?" Leon asked simply, causing the man to let out some muted chuckles in response, apparently finding something about what he said funny.

"Well to start off, you don't need to be calling me 'sir,' kid. I get you're nervous, but this isn't the military. We're all co-workers here." The man clarified before holding out his hand for Leon to shake. "Anyway, I just figured I'd take the time to properly introduce myself. I'm Barry Burton, Alpha Team's backup man and the division's weapon supervisor."

"Ah, nice to meet you. I'm Leon Kennedy, Alpha's new pointman and sharpshooter. Guess this means we'll be working together pretty often, huh?"

"Seems like it." Barry chuckled. "Anyway, since everyone in the division's present and accounted for today, I figured now would be as good a time as any to get you properly introduced to the rest of your team members. Come on, let's get you up to speed with that."

With no reason to protest, Leon allowed Barry to introduce him to the rest of the STARS members. After taking the time to properly acquaint himself with each of them, the blond young man found himself in the middle of a conversation with Brad, Alpha team's pilot. The man had a rather timid and skittish nature to him, befitting the demeaning nickname of 'chicken heart' the other members of the unit gave him, but was still friendly and personable enough.

"So Brad, you don't think you could give me a few lessons or tips about flying a helicopter, could you?" Leon couldn't help but ask. The idea of knowing how to properly pilot a helicopter always appealed to him, but the timing just never seemed right. There'd always been more important things for him to attend to, placing that little goal on his bucket list on the backburner.

"Well Leon, if you're willing to learn, then I could definitely show you the ropes next time we use the chopper. Just bear in mind it's a bit harder than learning how to drive." Brad offered with a meek smile.

"Hey, between college and the police academy, wouldn't be the first time I've dealt with difficult lessons." And with this agreed upon and introductions out of the way, Leon decided that now was as good a time as any to return to his desk and get back to reviewing those files on Coen. However, on his way back to his desk, Barry noticed Leon's handgun resting on his holster, causing him to pipe up. "Why you're using a regular handgun".

"Hm? Yeah, Rebecca gave it to me along with my uniform. Something wrong?" In response to this, Barry gave the unit's medic a questioning gaze, causing her to hold up her hands in surrender.

"What? It was all I had on me and I couldn't open up the door to the armory!" The brunette spoke, a defensive tone in her voice. Barry merely 'ah'ed in understanding before gesturing for Leon to follow him once more. Pulling out USB drive from his desk, the guns enthusiast made his way over to the armory's computer and inserted it into the computer. This caused the gated armory door to slide open with a loud blare. With this out of the way, Barry reached into the armory's main locker and pulled out another Beretta. It looked similar to the one Leon already had, but he noticed the words _**'Custom KENDO shop'**_ etched onto the slide.

"Here," Barry began, holding out the Beretta for Leon to take. "This is a prototype model of piece all STARS members are issued. Miles better than your standard-issue pistol."

"Wow," Leon whistled as he looked over the pistol, impressed with the craftsmanship behind it. "This is one hell of a beretta. Whoever made this must be one talented gunsmith."

"Heh, if you think that's impressive, you should wait til you get a load of the customized models captain Wesker and I got." Barry chuckled, pleased to see the rookie appreciated the talent and beauty behind the Samurai Edge model. "Anyway, I'm a friend of the guy who commissioned these pieces and his gun store is just around the corner from the police station. "When I get the time, I'll talk to him about making another model of the finalized product for you. For now, enjoy using the experimental model. And try not to scuff it up, alright? It's a work of art."

"I'll take good care of it, thanks." Leon nodded, holstering the pistol. Once again, he was about to return to his desk but was stopped once more when he noticed the time and realized it was 12:34… giving him less than half an hour to meet up with Ark on time.

"Oh-! Shit, sorry to cut this short Barry, but I gotta get going." And with no time to wait for a response, Leon quickly made his way out of the office.

.

.

.

 _ **Fox Street 1:04 PM**_

After roughly half an hour of rushing, Leon made his way to the address and found Ark there waiting for him. "Took you long enough."

"I'm only four minutes late…" Leon grunted in annoyance. Ark didn't say anything in response, merely shrugging before getting into his car, a 1996 Lexus LS 400, and rolling up the window so he could address him from the driver's seat.

"Whatever, just get in." The PI said, unlocking the passenger door for him. The blond did just that and like that, they were off.

"So, what exactly is this lead you got?" Leon asked, his gaze drifting to the scrolling cityscape outside.

Two days ago, there was a break-in at a gun store in this area. Several of the guns were taken along with 5000$ in cash. There was confirmation that there were robbers and I got reason to believe Coen was one of them."

"That's a lot of cash. Odds are he's gonna try and use it to get out of the country while he can. A smart move on his part but that doesn't exactly tell us where he is, either." Leon mused. If Coen really was in possession of that much money, then

"True, but that's where this guy comes in " Ark explained, handing Leon a file. Taking a look through it, he saw that it was about a man named Nathan Donnelly.

"Huh… so we know this is one of the guys from the robbery?"

"We have no concrete evidence yet, but his criminal background shows a history of committing break-ins very similar to what happened at that gun store. Point is he's the best lead we have, so we're gonna pay him a visit. If my hunch is on the money, he'll be our ticket to wherever Coen's holed up."

"Okay, so where are we going?" Leon asked, closing the file when he finished looking through it.

"His apartment. It's not too far from here."

.

.

.

 _ **Raccoon City University 1:27 PM**_

With her classes for the day finished and no longer distracting her, Elza's thoughts soon returned to that picture she found in Leon's bag. She couldn't deny that she was indeed curious about it, and that she wanted to ask him for details regarding it, but at the same time, she knew that just bringing it up to him tactlessly would be a bad idea. Like she realized this morning, if Leon had been going out of his way to avoid bringing his parents up, then it must've been a sore spot for him.

' _Maybe a ride through town on my bike will help clear my head up… Maybe help me know what exactly I should do with this, too.'_ Elza decided, reaching into her pocket for her motorcycle key. Enjoying a ride with her motorcycle always helped her think and just put a smile on her face.

"Excuse me, Ms. Walker?" Unfortunately, Elza's plans were dashed when she heard the voice of her last class's teacher, Professor Peter Jenkins, calling out to her. Stopping in her tracks and letting out a silent curse, the blonde turned to see the dishevelled professor speed walking towards her.

' _Oh great, what now?'_ Elza groaned, well aware that with most university teachers, a 'moment' was never really that mercifully short.

"I just need to have a word with you. If you could just follow me…" The professor explained, turning to head back into the classroom and expecting Elza to follow

' _I hate it when I'm right.'_ Elza sighed, biting the bullet and following after the professor. "So, are there any problems, Professor Jenkins? I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"

"Oh no, nothing of the sort." Jenkins denied with a shake of his head. "You see, I've recently been asked to get a student's assistance on a project and wanted to see if you'd be willing to assist me?"

"I see… and what kind of project is it?" Elza asked, crossing her arms and feeling skeptical.

"Well, to start off, are you familiar with Umbrella Pharmaceuticals?"

.

.

.

 _ **Battery Street 2:02 PM**_

Eventually, Leon and Ark arrived at their destination, which happened to be located in a shadier and more run-down part of Raccoon City.

"Christ… and here I thought I had it bad." Leon thought aloud, taking in the deplorable condition of the street.

"That's city life for you." Ark sighed, checking to make sure his CZ75 was loaded before looking back to Leon. "Remember to try and keep a low profile. This goes without saying, but cops aren't exactly welcome in this part of town."

Nodding in response, the two got out of Ark's car and began to make their way to Donnely's apartment. During their treck over, Leon made a point of ignoring the eyes of various people on his as he passed by, doing his damndest to take Ark's advice and remain inconspicuous.

Soon enough, the two made it to the entrance of the apartment complex, but were blocked by several men hanging around the complex's entrance.

"Ah, 'scuse me fellas." Ark said, a casual tone in his voice as he tried to pass by the men and into the building. Unfortunately, the men in question seemed to be looking for trouble as they deliberately blocked the way.

"Oh and what's the rush, pal? What do you gotta go and do in here?" One of the men questioned, most likely the leader of the group.

"Sorry, but that's really none of your business." Ark stated firmly, trying to sound properly intimidating. (Leon would definitely give him an A for effort, but unfortunately, he had to admit that the PI's intimidation skills were incredibly lacking.

"Yeah, well what if I wanna make it my business?" It seemed Leon wasn't the only one who wasn't impressed either, judging by the lead male's sneer and the way he and his pals rose up to address the both of them.

"Look, to sum it up, there's a guy in there that owes us some money, and we're here to collect." Leon quickly cut in before things could get any worse. "You look like a savvy guy, so how about you make things easier for all of us and don't start shit for some asshole you don't even know?"

"Heh, you make some good points, pretty boy. Alright, whatever, go on through and do whatever the fuck you gotta do." Thankfully, it seemed that Leon's words were enough to diffuse the situation before things escalate any further. With nothing more to be said, the man and his cohort cleared the way, allowing the duo to make their way into the apartment.

"You didn't have to step in like that, Leon. I had things handled." Ark grunted as the two walked through the rundown building's halls. Judging by his words, tone, and overall bent out of shape demeanor, he clearly wasn't happy with how the previous situation was out of his control.

"You had it handled, _right."_ Leon noted dryly, unable to prevent his sarcasm from creeping into his tone. "I might've been a bit more willing to believe you in that regard if it wasn't for the fact that those guys looked like they were about to pull their guns on us."

"W-What? They were armed? How did you know?" Ark asked, his annoyance quickly replaced with surprise thanks to Leon's words.

"Well, unless two of those goons outside were reaching into their jackets to give us wads of cash, then I think it's safe to assume most, if not all of them, were armed." Leon explained, having seen just that while Ark was talking with their leader. "Anyway, it doesn't matter now. Which apartment is Donnelly's?"

"Apartment number 66."

And with that confirmation, the two enter an elevator to take them up to the 4th floor of the building. Soon enough, the elevator comes to a stop, causing Leon to speak up once more. "Okay, so what's our plan? How are we gonna approach this?"

"Just… follow my lead, okay?" Was all Ark had to say, his hand inching towards the inside of his jacket and towards his pistol as they got closer and closer to their destination.

' _Great. Because doing just that only a few minutes ago would've lead to some_ dazzling _results.'_ Despite his skepticism, Leon nonetheless nodded and kept pace with Ark. Soon enough, the both of them were standing in front of apartment 66, Nathan Donnelly's residence.

Drawing his pistol, Ark creeped up to the door and put his ear up to it, hoping to get confirmation if anyone was inside. He got his answer when he heard the faint sounds of a television playing. Signaling to Leon that Donnelly was in fact inside, the PI gave the blond cop a second to ready himself before kicking the door open, rushing in, and pointing his gun at whoever was inside. _"DON'T MOVE!"_

Unfortunately, barely a second after this exclamation, a large radio cassette player slammed right into Ark's forehead, knocking him out cold.

" _Shit!"_ Leon swore under his breath, rushing into the doorway just as Ark's assailant tried to sprint out the doorway and make his escape. Pushing the man back, Leon barely had a second to react before dodging back and barely dodging a sloppy haymaker aimed at his head. Unwilling to give the man a chance to recover or try to attack him with a blunt object like he did to Ark, Leon countered with a left side kick that sent the man stumbling back into the apartment and onto his back.

" _Freeze!"_ Leon ordered, pointing his pistol at the man before he could get back up.

A/n: Just to get some things out of the way. (The questions i usually get)

1: Leon has his Resident evil 4 look in this, only younger (He's 18 years old in this story)

2: All the other resident evil protagonists (Chris,Jill and Claire) will show up eventually but their roles will be different from the original.

3: Elza will be somewhat of Deutragonist.

 _ **(Special Thanks to lolrus555 for fixing my story)**_


	5. Chapter 1 (2)

**_Chapter_** **1: Novice (2/3)**

 _ **Donnelly's apartment 2:30 PM**_

After making sure Donnelly wasn't going to be getting back up while he wasn't looking, Leon made sure to check up on the downed Ark.

"Agghh… My head… Talk about an ache…" The private detective groaned, forcing himself up into a sitting position and cupping his head.

"You okay? He got you pretty hard with that cassette player." Leon asked, only to wince when Ark pulled his hand away from his forehead and they both saw his palm was now slick with blood. "Shit, that looks like a pretty bad gash."

"I'm fine, Leon. It's just superficial. I'm not gonna go suddenly forgetting my own name just cause of a tap to the head." Ark denied, waving off the rookie's concern as he forced himself up into a standing position. With how bad the cut on his head looked, Leon wasn't exactly convinced, but didn't press the issue regardless given how he was quickly beginning to note just how stubborn the PI could be.

"Right… well, if you're sure you're fine, then how about we ask our new pal Donnelly some questions?" Leon asked, rising from his crouching position and offering Ark his hand.

"I couldn't agree more." The PI grunted, clearly eager to squeeze the info out of the suspect after the blow he gave him. With the both of them heading back into the apartment, Ark dragged the lethargic and reeling Donnelly to a nearby chair and made sure to handcuff him to it.

"Come on, up and at em' already." Leon said, snapping his fingers in front of the man to get him back to his senses. Ark, having considerably less patience for the suspect, merely opted to slap him across the face, instantly causing him to wake up gasping. "...Well, I guess that's one way to wake someone up."

Ignoring his remark, Ark gave the now awake Donnely a cold stare as he spoke, "Alright Donnelly, I'm gonna make this very simple for you. Me and my associate here got three questions we're going to ask you. You give us the answers we want, and I'll let you off the hook. If not, then I'm going to make sure to pay you back in full for the head injury you gave me. Got it?"

As he spoke, Ark slowly moved from where he was standing and towards the radio he had resting on his counter. The device was a cheap, bulky thing, and everyone present knew this just from looking at it and from the way Ark gave it a brief look over, his intentions made clear. Feeling a spike of panic at his threat, Donnely quickly nodded his head in agreement to the terms.

"Okay, looks like we understand each other. First off, who were the other robbers that were with you in the gun shop robbery?"

"R-Right! Okay, so the first one was this bastard named Kirk, but I haven't got any clue who the other guy was supposed to be. Kirk was the one that brought him in on all this… said he used to be a marine and he'd come in handy for the holdup." Donnely answered, immediately catching the duo's attention.

Exchanging a quick look, both Ark and Leon knew that they came to the same conclusion; that the other man he mentioned was Coen.

"Right. Well next up, why did you even rob the gun store in the first place?" Leon continued to question while Ark watched the interrogation intently, quite curious about the answer for this particular question..

The marine guy filled us in on a big score that was going down at that place. According to him, some army guys ordered some high end weaponry and they paid in advance." Donnelly explained, further clarifying Coen's involvement in the incident. Odds are he wanted both some petty revenge against the government and a means to reliably get out of the country by making off with their money and weapons.

'That would explain why a local gunstore would have so much money on hand…' Leon mused. The way everything seemed to be adding up made it clear that Donnely wasn't lying.

"Hm… makes sense. So, what happened to your marine pal? Do you have any idea on where exactly he might've gone?"

"If I knew where that shitstain was, then I sure as hell wouldn't be here. I'd be at wherever he's hiding jamming my foot up his ass! That bastard pulled a fast one on us and made off with the money and the guns! Kirk's been trying to find him since then." The crook explained bitterly, clearly furious about the backstab.

"Well there where can we find him?" Ark added in, realizing that finding out where Kirk was their best shot in keeping the trail that led to Coen hot.

"Hey! You said I only had to answer 3 questions! Like hell I'm gonna tell you assholes anything else!"

"3 questions, 4? Who's really counting? Besides, we got you tied up and just heard you confess to having a hand in that heist. You're not really in much of a position to be negotiating here." Leon noted dryly. However, Donnelly seemed to be resolute in not providing any more info judging by the stubborn glare he gave the both of them.

"Seems like he's not in the right mood to be talking, Leon." Ark noted, although he wasn't particularly worried. Donnelly wasn't the first stubborn crook he had to squeeze some info out of, and beyond getting a lucky shot in on him, he certainly wasn't intimidating.

"You don't say?" Leon asked rhetorically, crossing his arms. "Well, you're the hard-boiled private eye here. You picked up any methods over the course of your career to make friendly guys like him more agreeable?"

"As a matter of fact, I got just the thing in mind." Ark said, eyes once against drifting to the radio before he picked it up, causing Donnelly to start breaking out into a cold sweat. "I'll just return the favor and bash him over the head with this a couple of times. Best case scenario, it'll rattle his brain enough to make him tell us what we wanna know. Worst case… well, if nothing else, it'll make for some satisfying anger relief for that gash he gave me."

When Donnelly still said nothing, Ark merely smirked before striding towards him with the heavy radio in tow. This was enough to get the crook to crack. "Alright alright, fine! His son's name is Felix and he's a student at East Raccoon Elementary!"

"Fleix Kirk, huh? Alright, looks like we have something to work with now." Leon mused aloud. With any luck, asking the boy's mother some questions could be what they need to lead them to Kirk.

"Alright, I answered your questions, now let me the fuck go!" Donnelly demanded angrily just when it looked like the two forgot about his presence, causing Leon to shoot him an unamused look.

"Hate to break it to you, but that's not gonna happen. You're gonna be coming back to the station with me and then you're going to serve out your sentence for having a hand in that heist." He stated bluntly, making his way behind him to unhook him from the chair.

"WHAT!? YOU ASSHOLES SAID YOU'D LED ME OFF THE HOOK!" Donnelly yelled in clear shock and outrage.

"He said he'd let you off the hook for nearly bashing his skull in, I didn't say anything about letting you skimp out on your sentence." Leon corrected dryly as he cuffed the crook, ignoring his furious protests.

***O***

 _ **(RPD underground parking garage. 4:50 PM)**_

"YOU LITTLE FUCKING PUNK! I SWEAR TO GOD I'M GONNA GET YOU AND THAT SHITBIRD DETECTIVE FOR THIS!" Donnelly ranted angrily as two officers restrained him further. He and Marvin merely watched from a distance as he raving crook was dragged off to a doorway that led to the station's holding cells while Ark waited in his car.

"Donnelly, huh? I had a feeling we'd see him in this station again, but the optimistic in me was hoping he'd learned his lesson by now." Marvin noted, crossing his arms as he leaned back against one of the garage's load bearing pillars.

"I take it this wasn't the first time he's been in trouble with the law?"

"Pretty much. He had a pretty lengthy rap sheet of robbery and theft in the past. He'd been on parole for a few weeks now, but it looks like it's back to prison for him." Marvin elaborated. When he was finished, he merely gave Leon a pat on the shoulder for a job well done before making his way towards the doorway that led back up to the station.

With Donnelly's incarceration out of the way, Leon made his way back to Ark's car and took a seat in the front. The detective, who'd since gotten his head wound checked out and bandaged, merely gave the young man a brief nod before he went back to looking out the front of the windshield, the look on his face one of deep thought.

"Well… that's one part of the problem settled. Any idea on where we go from here?" Leon asked, although he already had a feeling as to what the answer was going to be.

"I'm going to do a bit of digging and see where that Felix kid lives. His mother might have an idea on where we should go to find him." Ark explained, letting out a sigh as the events of the day replayed in his head. After a brief moment, he offered to Leon, "You need me to drop you off somewhere?"

"I'd appreciate that, thanks. I just need a lift over to the university."


	6. Chapter 1 (3)

Chapter 1 ( 3 / 3 )

Midway through the trip back to the university, one particular building caught Leon's eye and subsequently made him decide to cut his ride short.

"Hey Ark, you can actually just drop me off on this street. There's some stuff here I want to take care of." In response, the private eye was quick to pull over and let Leon get out and onto the sidewalk.

"Alright then. Just don't forget to come by my apartment tomorrow at 10." And with that said, Ark rolled up his window and drove off. Left by himself with only passers by as company, the young man took a moment to enjoy the fresh and sunny atmosphere for the day before walking off and into the store that caught his eye, that being a boutique.

 **(Elza's room. 7:00 PM)**

Elza had been enjoying a particularly lazy evening in her room binging TV when she heard her dorm room open and her boyfriend step inside.

"Well hey there, Mr. Elite Officer! Your investigation going well?" The young lady greeted cheerily, quickly shifting from her stomach-down position to a sitting one as she addressed Leon.

"Well… I made my first arrest as a STARS member." Leon answered after a brief moment thinking over what he should say regarding the investigation. It went without saying that, girlfriend or not, Leon couldn't go around blabbing about his police-work to civilians. Still… as long as he didn't go into any sensitive matters, like that whole shitshow with Coen, it should be fine.

"Seriously? How'd all that go?" Elza asked, looking at him with curiosity clear in her eyes.

With that question left in the air, Leon did his best to sum his day up for Elza while making a point to avoid mentioning one escaped Death Row inmate. By the end of his sum-up, Elza was looking at him with rapt intrigue.

"Wow… definitely looks like you had the busier day between the two of us…" She noted. However, after she said this, Elza's demeanor suddenly began to look much more hesitant, like she had something on her mind but didn't know how to put it or if she should even bring it up at all. "Uh… Leon, do you think I could… well, ask you something?"

"Um… yeah? Sure, what do you need to know?" Leon asked, clearly put off by the clear hesitance his girlfriend displayed at the sudden shift in topic.

Upon getting the OK to ask, Elza reached into the drawer by her bed to find something, explaining things as she did so. "Well… earlier today, I was putting your stuff in the closet, and… while I was doing that, I ended up finding _this."_ The blonde punctuated the last part of that sentence by handing him the photo she found earlier.

A brief moment passed where Leon simply took in the old memento from his past, an unreadable expression on his face, before he finally spoke up, his tone neutral. "Oh… so you found this old thing, huh?"

"I'm really, _really_ sorry, I didn't mean to find it, it just sorta… well, happened." Elza apologized, the guilty tone in her voice genuine, and despite the discomfort he felt bubbling up in wake of this entire conversation, Leon couldn't find it in himself to be upset at her.

"Eh, don't worry about it, I get stuff like that happens. So… what exactly do you wanna know here?" He asked.

"Well, I mean… could you tell me a bit about your parents?" Elza asked after a moment's hesitation, simply deciding to get to the heart of the matter. However, Leon still didn't seem willing to actually discuss this, clicking his tongue quietly and looking away before responding.

"What's there _to_ tell? They died years ago, long before we met." In response to that evasive statement, Elza merely looked at Leon with a deadpan, unamused stare before looking back at the photo and quoting the words written on it.

"Mom and Dad before everything was ruined." Upon hearing that, Leon couldn't help but wince -both at Elza handily cornering him and at the fact that he even wrote that in the first place- before sighing and bringing a hand up to his face.

"...Suddenly beginning to wonder why the hell I even wrote that down."

"Leon, if you don't want to talk about this, then I understand, but I just couldn't help but be a bit curious, especially since you know about my parents and everything. I mean, maybe talking about it will make you feel better?" Elza offered. Another moment passed without Leon saying anything, and the motorcycle enthusiast briefly thought he was going to remain silent on this entire matter, only to be proven wrong when he spoke up once more.

"...Okay, alright, fine." Leon sighed, instinctively getting the feeling that it wasn't gonna be fun explaining all this. "To make a long story short; my dad was a cop while my mom was an office accountant, and we all lived out in the middle of nowhere in the suburbs. It wasn't really bad, just… boring, without much going on. To be perfectly honest, I kinda hated growing up there."

"Alright… so how exactly did everything take such a terrible turn?"

"When my dad, who also happened to be a cop with a hero complex, went and got himself killed. Freaking narcissist went around causing several crimes on purpose so he could swoop in and play hero. He did it all to feed his damn ego and it eventually caught up with him."

"I… I see." Was all Elza could think to say in response, clearly surprised to hear that Leon's father had a hand in such dirty and two-faced business.

"I can already tell you're wondering, so I'll just give it to you straight; at one point, he planted a gun in the house of one of his suspects and landed him with four years of jail-time. That being said, he got out on two and a half years thanks to parole, and his first order of business once he got that taste of freedom was to find where my family lived and… shoot my dad in the face." He explained as briskly as he could, all while making a point to avoid the look of utter shock on Elza's face.

"O...Oh my god…! You… you saw him die?"

"No… I just heard the shot. My mom was the one who had to see that first-hand." Leon clarified, a pained look on his face briefly flashing as he recalled the utter grief his mother experienced after that godawful day.

"Well… what happened to the guy?"

"Dead. He tried to make a break for it but the police were right on his tail, and even back then, they weren't very big fan of cop killers. There was a shootout and… you can probably piece things together from there." She could. Those cops were likely out for blood that day, especially if they were unaware of what his father was doing.

"I… I see." With every word, Elza was regretting opening this old wound up more and more. However, she couldn't stop herself from asking one more question. "And… what happened to your mom?"

"She died giving birth…" He sighed, his words once again surprising Elza.

"You have a sibling?"

"...No. It happened several months too early. Maybe the stress of what happened with my dad had something to do with it." Was all Leon had to say on the matter.

"I… Leon, how old were you when all this happened?"

"I was about… 10 or 11, give or take."

" Oh god… Leon… I'm _so_ sorry…! I had no idea a question like this would involve digging up such awful memories."

"Don't worry about it, you couldn't have known…" Leon waved off her concern, looking away briefly before a look of remembrance flashed across his face. "Anyway, to shift to a topic a lot less morbid and depressing, I actually got something for you on my way back."

Elza, surprised, but nonetheless relieved by the change in topic, could only watch as Leon handed her a bag. The biker could only look at the bag for a brief moment before looking back to Leon. "Uh… what's the occasion? My birthday's not for another few months."

"What? Do I really need a specific date to get my girlfriend a present?"

"Well, you got me there, and I'm not about to turn down a free gift." And with that said, Elza was quick to open up the bag, and she was left dumbfounded by what was inside. To clarify, it was a denim jacket that the blonde had her eyes on for quite some time.

"H-Holy crap!" Elza exclaimed before looking back to Leon with wide-eyed surprise. "How did you even know…!?"

"Well, back in the academy, it turned out that in addition to having top marks, I also tested positive for mind reading." Leon smirked, and had to stop himself from outright laughing when Elza shot him an astonished look. Waving off her surprise, he continued, "I'm joking, in case that wasn't obvious. I just saw you try it on a while back and put two and two together."

Elza's only response to this was to wrap Leon in a tight hug before pulling back slightly and giving him a look full of adoration and gratitude. "If this is all so you could make me even more grateful that we're together… then it's working~."

"Heh, that wasn't really what I had in mind, but-" Leon didn't have enough time to finish that cheeky remark before Elza caught him in a passionate kiss.

From there, you can all likely imagine how the rest of the couple's night went...

 _ **(Ark's Apartment 8:32 PM)**_

Taking a sip of coffee from his mug, Ark appreciated the bitter and reinvigorating taste of the liquid as he continued to gather information on Felix Kirk.

 _ ***Knock knock!***_

However, he was brought out of his focus when the sound of someone knocking on his door caught his attention.

"Who is it?" Ark called out from his desk, and the only response he got was more knocking. Letting out an annoyed breath, the private eye got up from his seat and approached his front door. The quicker he got whoever stopped by out of his hair, the quicker he could get back to work.

That being said, the figure he saw when he opened that door left him completely blindsided.

" _You!?"_ That exclamation was all Ark could get out before darkness overtook him for the 2nd time today.

 _ **(Elza's room 5:57 AM)**_

Elza was briefly roused from her peaceful slumber when she heard the familiar sounds of clothes ruffling about. Blinking away some of her drowsiness, she was greeted with the sight of Leon just finishing getting dressed.

"Mmh, morning…" Elza greeted lazily, getting his attention. "What time is it even?"

"About 6 in the morning. Wouldn't mind staying for a bit longer, but duty calls."

"Hmhm~. You leaving so early into the morning reminds me of how you'd sneak out of my house so my parents wouldn't find you." The mere mention of that memory caused Leon to wince like he'd been struck. Those memories had far too many close calls in them to be looked back on with fondness.

"Alright Elza, think you can ease off with the horrible memories?" Leon asked dryly before muttering under his breath, "Glad I don't have to deal with that anymore…"

"You sure about that? I mean, you're not supposed to be sleeping here either, and yet here you are." Elza pointed out cheekily.

"Maybe, but here, I also don't have to worry about ending up on the wrong end of your dad's shotgun." Was Leon's immediate response, a dry tone in his voice.

"C'mon, I know you thought the danger of it was why you had so much fun!" Leon could only roll his eyes at his girlfriend's teasing, before giving her a quick kiss goodbye.

"Maybe, but I think I'll take this any day over that." And that was the last Elza heard from him before the door to her dorm closed. The young woman could only smile in amusement before flopping back into her soft bed and falling back asleep.

 _ **(Ark's apartment. 7:00AM)**_

"Argh… my head… bastard got me good." Ark groaned as consciousness steadily ebbed back into him. When his vision finally cleared up, he was greeted with the sight of his apartment, or more specifically, the desk where he worked on his cases, utterly ransacked, with all the drawers opened wide and papers scattered everywhere.

The site of this immediately caused alarm bells to go off on Ark's head and he wasted no time in quickly looking through the papers. Just as he feared, the papers related to Kirk and the case were nowhere to be found.

"Dammit!" Ark swore, running a hand through his head and wincing at the feeling of dried, flakey blood amid his hair. This case just kept getting worse and worse by the minute.

 **(Raccoon City Streets. 7:21 AM)**

 _Hm… Barry wasn't lying when he said this place was right around the corner from the station.'_ Leon thought as he stopped to briefly take in the large letters that spelled out _**Gun Shop Kendo**_ over the double-door entrance to the gun store.

To provide a bit of context, earlier this morning, Barry asked Leon to drop by this store to pick up several customized handguns he commissioned, and with no reason to refuse, he did so, coming upon the entrance to this store after a few minutes of walking.

Now that he was here, Leon was quick to head inside, and was soon greeted with a slightly portly man in flannel at the store's front desk.

"Hey there, fella! What can I do for you?" The man -who he assumed was the store's titular Kendo- greeted.

"I'm with the RPD, sir. STARS, to be more specific. Barry Burton sent me here to collect some guns you had ready for him." Leon explained, getting a nod of understanding from Kendo in response.

"Right, right. Kennedy, Barry filled me in about you. Just give me a minute and I'll get those guns out from the back." Kendo explained, quickly walking out the store's backdoor, subsequently leaving Leon by himself and allowing him to take in the store and the various products it had available.

 _Damn, this is some impressive artillery he's got on sale.'_ Leon mused to himself, clearly impressed with the guns and the level of craftsmanship behind them. _'Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if the whole department could stock up with what's available here.'_

"Alright, here we go!" It wasn't long before Kendo made his presence known with his re-entrance, holding an unloaded beretta by it's barrel in one hand and a full duffel bag in the other. "Now, to start off, let me be the first to congratulate you on you getting your hands on your own STARS custom. My brother and I tested those things to a fine art, so I think you'll be pleased with it's reliability."

As he gave this brief sum-up, Kendo handed Leon the beretta, allowing him to take it and the care put into its design in. Just like he and Barry said, these Samurai Edges were definitely a league above your standard handgun.

"I take it you like what you see?" Kendo noted, his tone a mix of pride and amusement as Leon examined the gun. "Tell you what, if you got the time and the money, I'd be happy to cook up something for you."

"I might just have to take you up on that, thanks." Leon affirmed, quickly holstering the gun before looking towards the duffel bag, which was now sitting on the store's counter.

"Now, here's the rest of what Barry ordered." Kendo clarified, patting the bag as he did so. Nodding, Leon unzipped the bag and took a look at what was inside, and he was certainly staggered by all the heavy artillery there was. From what he could tell, there was an assault shotgun, magnum revolver, an uzi, an LMG, and a freaking _grenade launcher!_

' _Damn! I get the shotgun and revolver, but who the hell asked for a grenade launcher…!?'_ Leon thought before shaking off his bafflement and zipping the bag back up and addressing Kendo once more. "Well, thanks again. I'm sure the department's gonna get their money's worth from everything you've provided.

"Don't mention, and feel free to come again! You STARS boys are always welcome here." Leon merely gave a wave of affirmation before turning around and making his exit.


End file.
